Andy 60s Music Remembers Teachers Day 2019 & Blackboard Jungle 1955

No, no Lulu or Doris Day singing on this post.

We're looking at the other side of midnight.

Yes, it's what teachers had to face in classrooms, in other countries.

One of the better movies from the mid-fifties, it drew crowds when it was shown at the Capitol Cinema. It starred tough guy Glen Ford and Sydney Poiter (a teacher in, To Sir With Love) but a student in Blackboard Jungle. 

A much-used phrase in the English vocabulary those years was the concrete jungle so blackboard jungle was just as appropriate.

A classic on the bookshelves, it became a classic on the silver screen; the story involved a group of US inner-city teachers who had to deal with teenage violence, anti-social behavior, and racial disharmony. 

The switchblade fight was one of the highlights of the show.  What's interesting also was its soundtrack with teddy boys dancing to Bill Haley's Rock Around the Clock: The Blackboard Jungle Theme Song (2 million copies sold in the mid-50s), Go Down Moses and, a lovely hit by Joan Weber, Let Me Go, Lover. 

There were a few more songs that were in the movie, like, Auld Lang Syne and The Star-Spangled Banner.

Bill Haley's Rock Around The Clock was not much known as a sort of theme song for the movie, Blackboard Jungle. But it hit the charts so high, nobody bothered where the song came from. It is still a classic even today and known as the Rock n Roll Anthem.

Billy Fury, Dean Martin, Anne Murray, Peggy Lee, Patti Page, and Teresa Brewer covered Let Me Go Lover and the versions became hits too, in their own rights. If I remember correctly this same song was popular during requests programs on the radio.

Dean Martin's version of Let Me Go, Lover from the movie, Blackboard Jungle.

Haven't you seen this movie? Go watch it.

In Singapore and for so many years, it's still great to be a teacher.

A Happy Teachers' Day to those in the honorable profession.

A scene from Blackboard Jungle taken from a YouTube screengrab.

Ms. Tracy Ng (image below) was a student of mine and sent the above gif.

Thanks Tracy. You've been a great student too.

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